


The Manor's Soul

by Saunne



Category: Moonlight Lovers (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, I was inspired by a friend's headcanon, Snippets, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27842236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saunne/pseuds/Saunne
Summary: When she turned 18, Eloïse received a letter, a keychain and a mansion abandonned for as long as she lived.At least, that's what she thought.
Relationships: Eloïse / Neil (Moonlight Lovers)
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The whole idea for this fic came from a friend's Tumblr and a wonderful headcanon about an alternate universe involving Eloise and Neil. I wouldn't say more to not spoil the rest of the story, but feel free to go and see it !
> 
> https://aaron-titty-mousepad.tumblr.com/post/635855181075070976/was-thinking-long-and-hard-about-how-id-want

The keys were heavy in her pocket. The steady tinkle produced by the thick keychain at each of her steps was agonizing but, at the same time, strangely calming. She had no idea what to expect in this mansion although she had spent many hours thinking about it since the headmaster of the orphanage gave her the letter from her parents.

Her parents… How distant the concept seemed to her ! Even now, after many re-readings, the object seemed alien to her, carrying an immeasurable weight. It was a strange feeling to think that once in her life she had had a family. People who loved her, who cared for her… and who were gone.

Dead before she even had the chance to know them.

And now, there she is with the keys to a house left untouched for almost as long as she has lived.   
  


It was terrifying.   
  


It was stirring.


	2. Chapter 2

It was… disappointing.

The more she looked at the mansion, the more she thought to herself that, maybe, she had set her hopes a little too high. After all, what was she expecting ? The building was far from everything, lost in the depths of a forest. Of course, no one would have bothered to go there regularly for maintenance.

But in the semi-darkness of the setting sun, the mansion looked like something out of a low-end horror novel or the latest trendy urban fantasy dime novel. She had to refrain herself from chuckling lightly at the thought. It was just a derelict old mansion, and she sure wasn't the protagonist of any type of story. And then, what would she find inside? Ghosts ? Vampires maybe ? Pah.    
  
However, she had to hold back a grimace when she saw in more detail the pitiful state in which the roof was. The region was known for its thunderstorms and no one to replace the slates, it was a safe bet that she was going to have to deal with water leaks and that she would have to call a repairman. Fortunately, that in addition to the mansion, her parents had left the savings that went with it.

However, before planning on what there would be to do and not to do, one should first start by entering.

Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the keychain and slid the heavy key into the lock. She stared at the sight for a moment, before swiveling the key decisively.

It blocked halfway as the door opened with an end-of-the-world creak. And Eloise remained planted on the landing, taken aback and suddenly anxious.

  
Why on earth was the door _ already open _ ?


	3. Chapter 3

Eloise expressly picks up on any amused reflection she had about not being the protagonist of a bad horror novel. Because right now, that's the best way to describe the panic she's in.

The unlocked front door was just the first bad surprise, and not the least.

It had only taken her a few minutes and a tour around the mansion to realize it had been inhabited. If the ground floor had been left relatively untouched, the bedrooms were not. In fact, except for the pink room and possibly the master bedroom located at the far end of the corridor, all the rooms had obviously been occupied.

It was almost fun to be able to see the personality and tastes of her squatters through the decoration of the different bedrooms. One of them preferred a very modern, monochrome decor, while another's bedroom looked strangely like an art gallery left abandoned, statues and crystals covered in a thick layer of grime. Yet another seemed to be that of a teenager. She even found herself running her finger absently along the edges of the many CDs stored on the shelf in search of songs she knew.

However, with the dust and cobwebs that had taken possession of every space, anyone who had lived in the mansion during her absence had obviously been gone a little while ago.

... Nevertheless, this realization didn’t prevent her from locking the door to the bedroom she decided to use.

Just in case.


	4. Chapter 4

She hadn't been able to sleep or so little that it could hardly count as a night.

The sheets she had taken out of the closet, although properly stored, had a strong musty smell that had kept her awake for some time. But even as her eyelids fluttered with fatigue, her mind was trapped in a loop of hypervigilance bordering on paranoia since the key incident. 

In the dark, everything seemed louder. The rustling of leaves, the howl of the wind in the interstices, the hoot of owls perched in the branches… Her heartbeat sounded deafening too.

But the worst was the noise made by the mansion itself. Gust in the hallways, the creaking of poorly closed doors, the sounds of what sounded too much like footsteps on the stairs for her comfort …

No, she hadn't been able to sleep.

But it was okay, she was going to get used to it.

It was just the stress of the relocation… There was nothing to worry about.

Isn’t it ?


	5. Chapter 5

Eloise loved the mansion, really.

But, for god's sake God, did he really have to be that big ?

She had started cleaning along with the first rays of dawn filtering through the thick curtains of the pink bedroom. Her head was hefty from lack of sleep and her limbs heavy, as if she was trying to swim through molasses. However, there was so much to do that she couldn't imagine taking a break for a nap. Plus, if she exhausted herself enough, maybe she would be able to sleep without having to worry about any noise.

The mansion was old, damaged and had been uninhabited for years. The strange hissing, cracking, and other squeaking noises were perfectly normal. Now she just had to convince her stupid brain of this fact.

In the meantime, there was some cleaning to do. She had decided to start with the room she occupied as well as the ground floor, because if she had summarily changed the sheets the previous evening in order to be able to sleep, the rest had been left untouched.

Besides, she felt uneasy about entering the squatters' rooms. Even though the mansion was her home now, it had been occupied. People had lived there, God knows how many years, before they had to leave with most of their belongings lying around, abandoned.

This house was her property and these people had been intruders but, somewhere, she felt a little guilty about getting rid of it all.

So she pushed back the deadline, ignoring the uneasy feeling in her stomach.


	6. Chapter 6

It had now been almost a month since she had entered the mansion.

And she had _finally_ finished cleaning everything.

Eloise knew it was going to take a while given the size of the mansion. However, she had underestimated everything there was to do. Airing the rooms, mopping the floors and dusting anything that might have ended up buried under half a decade of filth had been relatively simple.   
  


However, as she feared, the roof had suffered from lack of maintenance and she had detected several water leaks while the various chimneys needed to be swept. The pipes had also suffered, the electrical network needed a good update and she didn't even want to think about the lack of internet connection. So there had been a real ballet of repairmen during the first week and honestly ? It had completely exhausted her.  
  


Tidying up squatters' rooms had also been backbreaking. She soon realized that all of the original furniture had been neatly stored in the attic, but she was still debating what to do with other furniture, knick-knacks and belongings. Finally, after much hesitation, she had kept what she liked and packed the rest in boxes to donate to a charity.  
  


Then he had to call other people again to help her put everything back in place, because it was not with her thin little arms that she was going to manage to move on her own a solid oak chest of drawers that must have weighed at least three times her weight.  
  


But there. After a grueling month filled with dust, cobwebs, back pain, and too little sleep to look like a decently functioning human being, the mansion finally looked more like a house than a half ruin.

The only room that had been left untouched was the pantry near the kitchen.

She couldn't bring herself to come in.

Not after what she found out.

It had been a beautiful day. The day before, she had finally finished tidying up the library and classifying the many books. It had taken her four full days, and the condition of her back made her feel like she had aged half a century. It was with a feeling of a job well done that she had woken up from the few hours of sleep her semi-paranoid mind had given her, still stirred by nighttime noises and the new surroundings.  
  


So she had decided to move to the kitchen. The solid wood counters needed a good cleaning, as did the dishes. And if she wasn't mistaken, there must also be some silverware somewhere that was going to need a good sprucing up as well.   
  


But it was when she had opened wide the large patio doors to the garden, to take advantage of the good weather and the natural light that she finally noticed the ground.

Or rather, the reddish-brown stain on the floor, which seemed to come from under the cellar door.

She had stared at it without understanding for a moment, before the realization slowly took hold.

It was blood.


	7. Chapter 7

Eloise deeply loved the garden which surrounded the property.

The passage of time had not been kind to what must have been, once, a beautiful and perfectly kept English garden. Nature had reclaimed its rights over the past years, transforming the tamed landscape into an almost impenetrable plant jungle. The paths had disappeared, swallowed up by the tall grass. The trees and other bushes, carefully pruned, had become wild again. A stone arch had half-collapsed under a heavy wisteria that had covered it with clusters of heady-smelling purple flowers.

A thick rose bush, located just under the massive upstairs window, caught her eye with its vivid colors. It too had grown wild again, its heavy stems with buds and full flowers soaring resolutely skyward, trying to catch the slightest ray of sunlight. With the heavy heat, their sweet smell was thick in the air, bordering on stuffy.

Absently, she stretched out her hand to pluck one, before quickly retracting with a grimace.

On her pale fingers, a few thin scratches immediately began to ooze, a few drops of blood crashing into the flowers below.

In a gentle breeze, the bushes revealed their long, dark, sharp thorns.

She should have been more careful, she thought, sucking her fingers.

After all, it was known that there were no roses without thorns.


End file.
